Just Irish Music

The Legend of Tír na nÓg – Oisín and Niamh’s Eternal Love | Irish Mythology Retold Long ago, when the mists of time clung thick over Éire and the line between this world and the next was thin, there lived a warrior-poet named Oisín . Son of Fionn mac Cumhaill , the leader of the Fianna, Oisín was known for his courage, his wisdom, and his unmatched beauty. But it was not battle or glory that would seal his place in legend — it was love. The story begins on a quiet morning in the hills of Kerry. The Fianna were hunting when a vision appeared on the horizon — a woman of such radiance she seemed more spirit than flesh. Riding a white horse across the waves, her golden hair flowing like sunlight over the sea, she was Niamh Chinn Óir , Niamh of the Golden Hair . Her eyes held the depth of oceans, and her smile promised wonder and sorrow in equal measure. She had come from Tír na nÓg , the Land of Eternal Youth — a place where no sorrow could reach, where no one aged, and where love coul...

Ireland, 1779 — A Land on the Edge of Memory A grey fog hung low over the sea, and in the hush before dawn, a foreign fleet emerged on the horizon. The wind carried no sound, only the steady advance of masts and sails—tall, foreign, and full of silent menace. The people along the Irish coast watched from behind stone walls and gorse-covered hills, eyes narrowed, hearts clenched. Ireland, already bruised by centuries of conquest, stood once more on the edge of uncertainty. The year was 1779, and Ireland found herself again at a crossroads between survival and surrender. Though these ships bore no army this time, their arrival cast a long shadow—an omen of cultural erasure more potent than cannon fire. It was not only land or sovereignty that hung in the balance, but the very soul of the nation. For what is a people without their voice? A Language Silenced Long before the first gunfire of invasion, there was another war—a quieter one. A war fought in the schools, in the churches, a...

This song is about the crisis in Dublin today. “The Cold Streets of Dublin” is a traditional-style Irish ballad that gives voice to those too often ignored — the men, women, and children living without a home in Ireland’s capital. While tourists stroll Grafton Street and the lights of new development glow across the Liffey, thousands sleep rough in alleyways, doorways, or overcrowded hostels. This song tells their story — quietly, honestly, and without judgment. Homelessness in Dublin has reached alarming levels. As of 2024, official figures show over 13,000 people experiencing homelessness across Ireland, with the majority concentrated in the capital. Behind those numbers are real people — young people escaping violence, older men left behind by the system, families forced into hotels because of rent hikes and housing shortages. The reasons are many, but the outcome is the same: cold streets, long nights, and a society that walks past. This ballad was written not just to lament, b...